Reno set the chopper down so Cloud and Leon would be able to move in and Cloud wasted no time in putting the Buster sword to use. Slicing through the creatures he soon came to rest in the middle of the group, the last one by his side remained for only a second before sliding in half and collapsing downwards with a sickening plop.

Leon raised his gun as the head of one exploded into the spider like tendril and nearly took a chunk of Cloud Strife’s leg out before Leon shot it to the ground. The puss filled thing splattered and slid along the floor landing at the door of the building.

“Thanks.” Cloud nodded and kicked the headless torso to one side stepping over it and then putting his arms out so Elena could jump down.

“Oh thank you.” She smiled landing in the ex-SOLDIER’s arms. “Oh I could get to like that.”

“I bet but you have to get through Tifa first.” He smiled and set her down. “Sorry Rude I’m not inclined that way.”

Rude grunted, he could have rolled his eyes but beneath the shades no-one knew, he landed with a heavy thud on the ground below and straightened his jacket. Reno flew off again and left them to it, he wanted to get home and it looked like they were going to be busy for a while there. He turned the music on and set off back to the city.

“Right so this inside base is the target yes?” Rude looked at them both.

“Yes,” Leon nodded, “I’ve asked Ada to go to see Tifa needs some help looking after Dark Nation.”

“You mean protecting people because he might turn out even more dangerous.” Cloud snorted as they moved ever onwards. “Will Ada kill the thing because I know Tifa won’t now she’s petted and fussed it so of course she will be attached.”

“You know her pretty damned well then?” Leon smirked and the group moved forwards.

“More than she thinks actually.” Cloud said softly behind him.

“You need to tell her Cloud.” Elena said softly. “She’s waiting for you to tell her that.”

“She knows.” Cloud said proving yet again he had barely bothered to think past the next fight as opposed to worrying about the woman at homes feelings. It wasn’t that he didn’t care he was just a little oblivious to it all. “Let us just get this over and done with.”

Rude nodded and headed with him, he was of the opinion he could get in, get out and get the hell home. There was a decent bottle of scotch on the table at home and he wanted to enjoy it. They headed in through the open floor down into a basement where Zack had ventured many years ago.

The Bathhouse there had served as a fight for Zack against Genesis and then his mentor and friend Angeal. The place held high emotional value for Cloud and he became silent as they stepped in. Leon looked around and headed alongside Elena into the lower basement.

“What’s in this place?” Leon asked them. “Seems like it’s abandoned.”

“It was,” Elena nodded, “there is a long history involving former members of SOLDIER but the essential part is there is a potential for the lab work to happen in this place. There is a chance that if someone is producing the T-Virus here would make sense.” She kicked an old handle from one of the pumping machines to the side. “The creatures are coming from here which means that they probably won’t have come from anywhere else. There is nowhere else is there?”

Leon nodded and followed her; the Turks it seemed dealt with a lot of aspects of business. Cloud kept quiet but he was very aware of his surroundings and ready to act. He never took his hand far from the bloody great sword on his back and Leon watched the two Turks moving around with practised behaviour, he was with a good team and it helped.

The laboratory had been accessed recently and the stench of rotting corpses that had been used in previous experiments assailed all of their noses. Leon was glad they hadn’t ventured down here with Rufus. It would have been a nightmare to keep him in view and investigate the myriad of chambers now presented to them. He kept his gun to his hand though he was quite mindful that their main source of ‘peacekeeping’ came in the form of the moody blond guy.

The lab had been abandoned once the investigator had got what he needed and made the town the successful test area. Elena found papers discarded around the area and picked them up she had no idea what a lot of it meant but Leon seemed to recognise a tattered book and she held it open.

“They are notes made by an old acquaintance of mine. Luis Sera, he was once a policeman in a place called Madrid, or so he said.” Leon looked at the battered notes and sighed. “He died trying to help us to put and end to this kind of mess back on our world.”

“Well then those notes can continue to help.” Rude told him and put them in his pocket. “Let’s carry on.”

“He doesn’t mess around does he?” Leon smirked.

“He’s competent when he’s not around that idiot redhead.” Cloud muttered.

“Hey! Reno’s good at what he does!” Elena defended him in his absence. “He’s just a little unorthodox at times.”

“I see.” Cloud muttered under his breath, all he knew was that he hated the fact that Reno had a way of flirting with Tifa and it actually made him feel jealous. “So any further clues on…” Cloud stopped talking when he spotted the glasses on the side. The little black rimmed round-shaped… “The bastard’s still alive.” He punched the wall and a crack through the brickwork.

“Who?” Elena glanced at him, her gun still poised and ready.

“Hojo.”

The silence in the room left Leon with no doubt that whomever he was, he was damned bad news.